Glisson plays role in musical chair act

Georgia has only taken the field for about two weeks worth of games, but the Bulldogs seem to have been playing musical chairs in the infield for months.

Shortstop Kyle Farmer broke his wrist late last week, forcing another rotation on the infield as the Bulldogs try to build early season momentum.

Farmer will be out 3-6 weeks. In the interim, a couple of guys with minimal experience will fill the gap.

"It's just another position," said Georgia third baseman Colby May, who has played shortstop lately. "We've all played every position pretty much. It's a little change. But we've practiced the whole year and prepared for it. It's different playing shortstop because I haven't played it in a year-and-a-half. But it's fun. But I can't wait to get Farmer and Levi (Hyams) back, that's for sure."

Georgia's newest-look infield will get a workout this weekend as the Bulldogs play three games against unbeaten Florida State, starting at 6 p.m. today at Tallahassee's Dick Howser Stadium.

The latest round has May moving from third base to shortstop, with the duo of Christian Glisson and Kevin Ruiz splitting duties at third base. Glisson is a catcher who had never played third base until tagged for emergency duty last weekend when Farmer broke his wrist.

"I never played third base before, ever," Glisson said. "I played shortstop as a really, really young kid. I'd either pitch or play first base, but by far the most I ever played was catcher so this is definitely different."

Glisson leads Georgia in batting with a .462 average and five RBIs. He has split time behind the plate with Carson Schilling and Brett DeLoach this season. When Farmer was injured, Georgia coach David Perno trusted his gut to find a temporary solution.

"That was a hunch," Perno said. "I needed his bat in the lineup and I know he's got a good arm and he's a good baseball player and we didn't have a third baseman."

Farmer's injury happened on a Friday. That night, Perno made the decision to try Glisson and the next day he put Glisson through a crash-course in fielding grounders and line drives before making the start.

"He called me and asked me if I wanted to be in the lineup," Glisson said. "I said, 'Yes sir, absolutely.' Then he said, 'I think you need to be, but you're going to have to do it a little bit differently. You're going to have to play third.' I was actually pretty excited. I didn't really expect it at first. But I had fun. It was a blast."

Glisson had one putout and three assists with no errors at third base against Stetson. But the infield shakeup might have shown itself in Wednesday's 13-2 loss to Alabama when Georgia made a season-high five errors. May made one error at shortstop and Glisson had another, but he played catcher against the Crimson Tide.

"I felt like I had a lot less control over the game because I'm not touching the ball on every pitch," Glisson said. "It's called the hot corner for a reason. But it's a lot like catching. You've just got to keep the ball in front of you and I did realize that you have a lot more time to throw to first base than you do behind the plate."

Glisson will likely only be a fill-in platoon player at third base. Ruiz made a switch from the outfield to third base in preseason practice and is the main backup at the position. He also supplies a right-handed bat at first base against left-handed pitching matchups. Florida State uses two left-handed starters, which makes a right-handed bat at first base even more of an imperative.

"I took some reps there over the spring after Chance (Veazey) had his accident," Ruiz said. "We kind of moved some people around just in case we got really short-handed. It was kind of natural for me to play there because I've been taking reps just in case."

The infield will likely shift again next week when Hyams returns from a back injury. Hyams started 46 games at shortstop last season, but moved to second base after Veazey's injury. Hyams was suspended for the first six games because of an offseason alcohol arrest, but would have missed the time anyway because of the back injury. Todd Hankins has played second base in place of Hyams and is batting .265. Hyams will probably move back to shortstop in place of Farmer which would shift May back to third base.

"Levi's out, obviously Chance is too with his situation and now Kyle's out," Perno said. "That's your three starting middle infielders. I've never quite been around anything like that. It's new to me and we're doing the best we can."

Georgia Bulldogs at Florida State Seminoles

WHEN: 6 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Dick Howser Stadium, Tallahassee, Fla.

AUDIO: 960-AM The Ref or WGAU 1340-AM if Georgia's women's basketball team is playing at the same time.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Florida State - Infielder Justin Gonzalez is batting .538 with eight RBIs. ... Infielder Sherman Johnson is hitting .476 and has 14 RBIs. ... Shortstop Stephen Cardulla is hitting .444 with 11 RBIs. Georgia - Peter Verdin ran his hitting streak to nine games with a single against Alabama on Wednesday. He also has a team-high three home runs. ... Catcher-third baseman Christian Glisson leads Georgia in batting with a .462 average. ... Leadoff man Johnathan Taylor continues to lead the team in RBIs with 10.

SERIES: Florida State leads 31-24.

LAST MEETING: Florida State beat Georgia 8-2 in the second game of the NCAA's 2009 Tallahassee Regional.

SEASON AT A GLANCE: Georgia lost to Alabama 13-2 on Wednesday at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala. to break a four-game winning streak. Florida State comes off a 10-5 win against Florida on Tuesday. The Seminoles lost their first game of the year on Wednesday, but it was an exhibition against the defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies (13-6).

NOTES: Kevin Ruiz could play more at first base to give the Bulldogs a right-handed bat against Florida State's two left-handed starters. That could move Christian Glisson from catcher to third base, where he has played one game in his career. ... The first-day pitching matchup between Justin Grimm (1-0, 1.59 ERA) and either of Sean Gilmartin or John Gast should be outstanding. ... Georgia made a season-high five errors on Wednesday against Alabama. ... Alabama's players, coaches and booster club contributed $1,000 to the Chance Veazey fund on Wednesday. ... Second baseman Todd Hankins is 0 for his last 10 at-bats. ... Jeff Walters has yet to get a pitching decision after making two starts. ... Florida State had 13 hits and 10 runs in its win against Florida on Tuesday. ... Florida State has outscored opponents 14-3 in the first inning. Georgia has been outscored 10-6 in the first inning.